Bottle rinsing and sterilizing apparatus.



A. G. STEER.

BOTTLE RINSTNG ASD STEHILIZING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. L911 LUSOJSQ, Patented June 18,1912.

3 SHEETSSHBET 1,

A. G. STEBR. BOTTLE MNSING AND SI'EHILlZlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY .20, 1911.

1,030,139 Patented June 18,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. G. STEER. BOTTLE RINSING AND STERILIZING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1911.

- Patented June 18, 1912.

3 SHBETS-SHEET 3.

ran t me PATN rain.

ALFRED G. sTE ER, O-F LANSDOWNE,- PhrNNSYLVJ-LNIA, ASSIGNOR T0DAIBYMENE":

SUPPL'Y CO., 01" LANSDOWNE,- PENNSYLVANIA, .A' CORPORATION OF PENNSYL-VANIA.

me ias,

To all wltom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, ALrRnn G. SrnEn, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lansdowne, Delawarecounty, Pennsyl- 5, Vania, have invented certain Improvements 'Q forbottles, and consists of an apparatus especially designed for use inthecleansing of .mi lk bottles wherein hot water, preferably under steampresspre, is forced into the bottles, thoroughly washing and rinsing thesame, and when such rinsing operation is complete, live steam is forcedinto the bottles for the purpose of effecting a complete sterilizationof the same. This operation of rinsing and sterilizing the bottlesfollows a preliminary soak in a bath of cleansing liquid and a scrubbingof the interior of the bottles effected by a brush or other suitablemeans. These and other features of my invention are more fully describedhereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:.

. Figure 1, is a sectional elevation of apparatusembodying my.invention; Fig. 2, is an end elevation of the same, looking 1n thedirection of the arrow m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3,

is an end elevation, lookingin the direction of the arrow y, Fig. 1;Fig. 4, is a diagrammatic view illustrating the piping for the steam andhot water, and Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, are views illustratingdetails ofmy invention. I

In the drawings herewith, 1 represents a suitable tank for hot Water, inwhich a coil or elongated section of ipe with return bends, indicated at2, is disposed. This hot water maybe initially heated by live steamdelivered from r a pipe 3, connected to a main steam pipe 4:, leadingfrom a suitable source of supply, boiler or the like. The brush employedfor the scrubbing operation may be driven by a steam turbine and whensuch apparatus is employed. the exhaust steam therefrom may dischargeinto the tank of water to heat the same. the apparatus is in operation,however, the steam employed to force the water into the bottles willmaintain the desired heat there for;

{Ab ve h k, or at paint onve e t.- thereto, a suitable guideway may bepro- Specification of Letters hateht. Application med'ma ae, 1911.Serial No. 629,650.

nor'rngn RII'ISINGLAND. srnaitlzitte arranarns.

videcl formed of rails 5, for the introduction ofa case 6 carrying aseries of bottles Patented June ltd, 1912..

disposed in an inverted position, and in'the structure I have devised itis quite possible and practicable to wash twenty pints or a dozen quartsat a single time, the cases being capable of containing either number.The bottles may be supported by-suit'able racks or trays 6 having ringsor-collars or similar devices receivin the necks of the bottles in themanner siibstantially as indicated in the drawings. I may also andpreferably provide a casing 7 forminga chamber receiving the case ofbottles and in which the rinsing and sterilizing operations are carriedout; the ends of such casing through which the bottle carrying cases maybe introduced and removed having movable doors 7 hinged thereto.

Below the rails for the bottle carrier tubular manifolds indicated at 8and 9 may be disposed;the manifold 8 having three pipes 10 projectingtherefrom, with a series of apertures 11, four in number, through whichwater and steam, and steam alone, may emerge in'the form of jets; whilethe manifold 9 has. four pipes 12 projecting therefrom, with a series ofapertures 11, five in number, through which water and steam, and steamalone, may emerge in the form of jets. The jets from the pipes 9 arearranged to register with quart size bottles so that the jets may beproperly directed thereto, while the ets from the pipes 11 are arrangedto register with the pint size bottles so that the jets may be properlydirect-ed thereto. The manifolds may be connected at one end by aU-shaped pipe 13, and at the opposite end by a, U -shaped pipe 14; thepipe 13 having a three-way valve 15, whereby the delivery of steam toeither manifold may be accomplished, or the steam inlet cut ofientirely, while the pipe 1 1 has a pair of check valves 16 and 17 whichare brought into operation when steam is directed into either manifoldfor passage to' the pipes carried thereby having the-jetting apertures;such check valves .preventingpassage of steam to the COll or conduit 2in the tank or the other manifold. The coil orconduit 2 disposed inthetank for the reception of a charge of water to be dischargedinto thebottlesiisprpvided with a check valve 18 normally opn, so that said coilmay fill with water during the intervals in the operation of apparatusWhile steam is being jetted into the i bottles.

1, I A pipe 19 leading froml'the source of steam supply is connectedwith a pipe 20;

one end of which latter pipe isattached to the three-way valve 15, Whilethe opposite end ofjsaid pipe 20 is attached to the coil or conduit 2invthe tank. On each side 'of this connection of the pipe 19 with thepipe 20 is a plunger valve, indicated at 21- and a 22, both of whichvalves may be controlled by a suitable lever 23, so that either one maybe opened while ,theother remains closed. These valves are preferably ofthe check type and when closed they are held to,

their seats not only by means of suitable springs but also by reason ofthe pressure ofv steam within said pipe 20. They may be raised fromtheir-seats against the steam pressure by'the arms24 controlled by the,lever 23, upon rocking the latter, such arms engaging heads carried bythe whereby live steam ma of the manifolds 8 or 9,,as the case'may be,depending upon the. position of the sa1d three-wayvalve, which may beoperated by.

thereto and. discharges through the aper stems 26 of said valves.

conduit 2 into the manifolds, thence to, the .pipes connected thereto,and from the latter in the form of jets; certain of said, jetsdelivering water to the bottles, while other jets rinse the outside ofthe bottles.- The attendant jwitne'ssingthis operation will,

discover, following the discharge of; the supply of-water which hascollected in the 'coilor conduit 2, a vaporous body within the saidbottles, being a saturated'body of [the steam employed to force thewater,fand

as soon as this is apparent the valve 21 should be closed and thevalve22 opened, v j be" -del1 vered through the three-way va ve15finto one ahandle 27. .The live steam entering said manifold, j passes to. thepipes connected tures of'the same in theform of jets into thebottlesf'one of the check valves in the pipe 14, connected to theoppositeend of said manifold preventing escape of the steam through thewater line, or to the other manifold. While this is going on,- the coilor conduit 2 in the tank is filling with water through the normally opencheck .valve 18, so that when one set of bottles has beenpushed awayfrom the rinsing point and theapparatus is ready to receive 60" anotherset of bottles, there will be sufiicient water in said coil or conduitfor delivery to the manifolds, 'and thence to the pipes through which itis jetted to rinse the bottles. The water should be at a temperature ofabout 150- F.,and should have been at grangement in which'8 and 9represent the If, as illustrated inthediagram, Fig. 4, the valve 21 beopened, steam pressure will. enter to force the water from thecoil'or.

such temperature for some little time, a half hour, for instance,'beforethe rinsing opera- 'tion commences. 3 It will be seen therefore thatthebottles are thoroughly rinsed andraised to a sufiicifent degree of heatto stand the introduction of live steam to effeotsterilization" beforesuch steam is? admitted thereto. 7 I

I" have shown "separate manifolds with pipes projecting therefrom havingapertures to effect a jet-ting operation'of the water and steam, or thesteam alon'er- It will be evident, however, that the manifolds and .the

pipes may be made in a singlecasting, and in Figs. 9 and10, I have shownsuch ar- 30 manifold portions thereof with a web 10 between the same,havingpassages 12 with jetting apertures 11. j

It will be understood that the casing 7 1 will catch any excess water orcondensed steam and return it to the tank, and that such casing may beprovided with a pipe 28 to carry off any excess of vapor present in suchchamber during the sterilization operation. f

While I have shown valves 21 and 22 controlling the d'elivery'of steam,which valves are arranged to open against the pressure of the steam, itwill beunderstood that such efiected'by asingle. threej control may beWay valve. v .ilclaim'z g j 1. In bottle rinsing and sterilizingapparatus", the combination of a bottle support;

a plurality of jetting devices placedto denation of a bottle support; anapertured pipe placed to deliver fluid to the bottles on the support; aconduit; means for automatically permitting the flow of water into theconduit upon the formation of a vacuum therein; means for deliveringsteam directly to the apertured pipe or to said conduit to discharge thewater therein'through said ap ertured pipe; means for controlling thede--" livery of such steam, and a check .valve placed to prevent thepassage of fluid to said conduit from said apertured pipe. 125 3.' Inbottle rinsing apparatus, the combination of a bottle support; aplurality of 'ap'-' ertured pipes placed to deliver fluid tothe bottleson saidsupport; aplurality of manifolds connected, to said aperturedpipes; a. ,30 j

ply, and connected to the manifolds; a check valve connected toautomatically admit Water from the source through said conduit underpredetermined conditions; means for delivering steam to said conduit todischarge the contents thereof through the apertured pipes; a valvecontrolling the delivery of such steamthroughthe conduit; means fordelivering steam to the manifolds independently of the conduit; andmeans for preventing the passage of steam-from the manifolds to theconduit.

4:. The combination of a water containing tank; a jetting device; aconduit submerged in the water of the tank and connected to the jettingdevice; a source of steam supply connected both to the conduit and tothe jetting device; means for automatically admitting water from thetank to the'conduit upon the formation of a vacuum in the latter; meansfor preventing the flow of fluid from. the jetting device to theconduit; and means for delivering steam to the pipe or to the jetting.device at will.

5. The combination of a water containing tank; a jetting device; aconduitsubmerged in the Water of the tank and connected to the jettingdevice; a source of steam supply connected both to the conduit and tothe jetting device; a check valveconnected to the conduit to admit waterthereto from the tank; means for preventing the flow of fluid from thejetting device to the conduit; and means for delivering steam to thepipe or to the jetting device at will.

6. The combination in a rinsing and sterilizing apparatus, of a watercontaining tank;

a -conduit therein having a check valve placed to permit of flow fromthe tank; a pair of manifolds, each having a set of apertured' dischargepipes; a pipe, including a check valve, connecting each of the manifoldswith the conduit in the tank; a steam supply pipe; a valve interposedbetween the said steam supply pipe and the conduit; means for connectingsaid steam supply pipe with both of the manifolds; and means fordelivering steam into either manifold at W1 In testimony whereof, I havesigned my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

ALFRED e. STEER.

Witnesses:

MURRAY C. BoYER, ARTHUR J. PURSSELL.

